Media Center

Press Release

REGIONAL SUMMIT DEBATES CIVIL REGISTRY, GOVERNABILITY, AND DEVELOPMENT

In an effort to share experiences and reduce the rates of unregistered people in the Americas, the Regional Summit of Civil Registries and Identification and VI meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean Council for Civil Registration, Identity and Vital Statistics (CLARCIEV) was inaugurated yesterday in Bogota, Colombia.

The event is organized by the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Latin American and Caribbean Council for Civil Registration, Identity and Vital Statistics (CLARCIEV), and the National Civil Registry Office of Colombia. Registry officials from 22 Latin American and Caribbean countries are also participating.

This three-day summit, entitled “Registries, Governability, Development and the Future,” aims to explore the subject of civil registries and identification, and to propose alternatives on how these may support key aspects of socioeconomic development through social inclusion generated by legally identifying individuals and consolidating more accurate vital statistics.

The problem of lack of registration in Latin America is a situation that not only puts at risk an individual’s right to identity but also affects the formulation of public and economic policies of Latin American countries.

“Eleven percent of children under five that live in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are not in the civil registry. In the eyes of the state, these children are non-existent and therefore are not afforded some fundamental rights,” said Robert Devlin, Director of the Department of State Modernization and Governance of the OAS.

Furthermore, Mario Marcel, Manager of Institutional Capacity and Finance of the IDB, noted the importance of creating inter-institutional alliances to reach the goal of universal registration and coordinate with other registries, such as those of property, business or deaths to share administrative, institutional, and technological solutions.

During the inauguration of the event, Eduardo Octavio Ruiz Botto, President of CLARCIEV, reiterated the need for all actors involved to work in harmony together to coordinate the efforts of governments and foster cooperation among different national civil registries. Similarly, Carlos Ariel Sánchez Torres, the Colombian National Registrar and host of the event thanked participants for their presence.

On the first day of the summit, various presentations were made in the framework of the use of civil registries as pillars for efficient management. Some of them showed the important role of technology in promoting the modernization of civil registry institutions in the region.

The forum, which ends Friday, also served as the stage for launching CLARCIEV’s new web portal, which uses various instruments to promote the exchange of civil registry information and the sharing of best practices in the field.

Reference: E-366/09